The Article “Amazon Indians hit by deadly epidemic in Venezuela” is about a Malaria outbreak that currently is hitting their country. Venezuelan health workers have said that Malaria has killed many people as well as destroying three villages of the Yanomami Indians who live in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest. The Yanomami people are struggling and they have attracted worldwide support. The article can be found at http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/10/30/5381446-amazon-indians-hit-by-deadly-epidemic-in-venezuela
Dr. Carlos Botto said that the initial accounts and tests have shown there was an epidemic and evidence of Malaria in the small group of the Yanomami. When Andres Blanco, a Yanomami health worker in government program for the indigenous communities first got to the remote and hidden area in mid-October the leaders of the tiny trips old Blanco that
out of the 200 people in the three trips combined 51 of them had died. That’s more then one forth of their entire populations, wiped out just because of this disease. Isolation has left the people of the Yanomami vulnerable to many other diseases besides Malaria, some of them are Measles, Yellow fever, and hepatitis has been spread by outsiders. The disease will spread rapidly among the people because they live in such close contact to one another. Also they do not have the exposure to many common illnesses so when an outsider comes in contact with one of the members they become vulnerable to infection.
Christina Haverkamp said that the government response has been really slow; they needed to access helicopters to reach the people. Yanomami people are very sheltered from the outside world. President Hugo Chavez suggests they expand a medical care program called the Yanomani Health Plan to help prevent this from happening again.
Dr. Carlos Botto said that the initial accounts and tests have shown there was an epidemic and evidence of Malaria in the small group of the Yanomami. When Andres Blanco, a Yanomami health worker in government program for the indigenous communities first got to the remote and hidden area in mid-October the leaders of the tiny trips old Blanco that
out of the 200 people in the three trips combined 51 of them had died. That’s more then one forth of their entire populations, wiped out just because of this disease. Isolation has left the people of the Yanomami vulnerable to many other diseases besides Malaria, some of them are Measles, Yellow fever, and hepatitis has been spread by outsiders. The disease will spread rapidly among the people because they live in such close contact to one another. Also they do not have the exposure to many common illnesses so when an outsider comes in contact with one of the members they become vulnerable to infection.Christina Haverkamp said that the government response has been really slow; they needed to access helicopters to reach the people. Yanomami people are very sheltered from the outside world. President Hugo Chavez suggests they expand a medical care program called the Yanomani Health Plan to help prevent this from happening again.
I wonder if the governments are aware of the implications of these diseases, such as Malaria, that these people are catching. One fourth of the population has died with a significant amount at potential risk. While these people are isolated from the outside world, the fact that we know this should be an indication that the speed of their response is not fast enough. The implementation of a proper medical program is a step in the right direction, but it just seems that it is too little and too late.
ReplyDeleteThe information that this article presents is actually pretty scary, because it shows the dangers of living in an isolated society. Though some may think that living in an isolated community will prevent disease, that isn't necessarily true. Yes, the people in this community are less susceptible to diseases spreading in the rest of the world, but when a disease breaks out within their community, they will have difficulty obtaining medical treatment due to their isolation and their population will ultimately significantly decrease. I think this article really highlights that.
ReplyDelete